Sporting Lisbon Claim 2012 Next Lions Cup after Victory Over Liverpool

Goals in the first and last minute of the second half by Sporting Lisbon won for the Portuguese club the 2012 Next Lions mini-tournament which concluded tonight in Singapore. The final score against English club Liverpool was 2-nil.

Liverpool could have been blown away as early as the first half but for Sporting’s woeful finishing. The Portuguese were first off the block, attacking in waves and forcing the English club’s defence on the back-foot.

A fine effort was saved from off the line after Liverpool goalkeeper Ryan Fulton went for a ball and failed to claim it.

“ In the match for third, Singapore took the lead over Manchester United before eventually losing the match, 1-2. United thus took third place honours in the 2012 Next Lions Cup. ”

Only 38 seconds of the second half had elapsed when Sporting’s Luka Stojanovic latched onto a long ball from almost the halfway line to turn away from the Liverpool defender and bury the ball into the net away from Fulton’s desperately diving arms.

The goal woke Liverpool up and the youngsters started to push forward more and string together passes in the same way that the club’s first team does.

The introduction of Swede Kristoffer Pedersen gave the team pace and penetration down the left flank from which a succession of chances were carved.

American Marc Pelosi had a shot cleared off the line in the 65^th minute as the Reds started to really gain an ascendancy over their Portuguese opponents. From the same chance, Adam Morgan curled a shot just wide of the far post.

Pelosi was played in by Jordon Ibe in the 76^th minute for what was another glorious goalscoring chance. The American delayed his shot a fraction of a second, which allowed Sporting to block his shot.

As the game drew to a close and Liverpool continued to break forward in search of an equaliser, Pedersen found himself with space down the left flank. Instead of squaring the ball inside where three Reds were waiting to pounce, however, he opted to shoot straight at the goalkeeper.

Soon after, Sporting broke quickly from the back and substitute Luis Cortez took the ball to the right of the penalty box before smashing a goal past Fulton to put the game to bed.

Disappointing though the result might have been for the young Reds, it was still an improvement over last season when they lost to the same club by margins of 1-5 and 0-3.

The Reds also had to play without the injured German starlet Samed Yesil, who it was reported was in crutches last night but was nonetheless on the bench for tonight’s encounter.

In the match for third, Singapore took the lead over Manchester United before eventually losing the match, 1-2. United thus took third place honours in the 2012 Next Lions Cup.

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